Platypleura arabica, the Arabian Cicada, stamp from the State of Qatar:
October 16, 2022
March 24, 2019
Platypleura watsoni = Platypleura mokensis
Platypleura watsoni, also known as Platypleura mokensis, is a cicada found in Thailand, India, and Myanmar (Burma), and very likely adjacent nations.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
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Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura watsoni (Distant, 1897)
References:
- Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
March 23, 2019
Platypleura hampsoni (Distant, 1887)
Platypleura hampsoni is a cicada found in India.
Image and Description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website:
Male. Head luteous; front with a number of black linear markings; vertex with a transverse, narrow, black fascia between the eyes, and with a central black spot containing the ocelli. Pronotum greenish-ochraceous, the disk with the following black markings: — a central I-shaped spot, on each side of which are some oblique linear markings; the lateral dilated margins are black, and the anterior margin is narrow — and the posterior margin broadly— dull reddish ochraceous. Mesonotum greenish-ochraceous, with the following black spots: — four obconical from anterior margin, of which the central two are smallest; and a large, oblong, discal spot, with a small partly rounded spot on each side of it; the basal cruciform elevation dull reddish ochraceous. Abdomen above black. Head beneath, with the face black, marked with luteous transverse lines; sternum somewhat ochraceously pilose; abdomen beneath black, the segmental margins ochraceous, the anal appendage of the same color; legs castaneous, streaked or spotted with piceous and luteous. Rostrum black, the basal portion luteous.
Tegmina pale hyaline, with the venation brown, the costal membrane greenish, the basal third somewhat opaque, with darker transverse markings and small basal black markings; a double irregular series of dark brown spots cross the tegmina at about center, a dark brown fascia at bases of upper apical areas, a few small subapical spots and some small marginal spots of the same color. Wings brownish-ochraceous, paler at apex than at base and very pale across the center, with a white marginal spot near anal angle; the venation brown.
The rostrum reaches the basal abdominal segment; the lateral margins of the pronotum are distinctly angulated; the face is robustly gibbous, with a profound central longitudinal sulcation; the posterior tibijE have three distinct spines on each side of apical half.
Long. excl. tegm. 2 . 23 millim. Exp. tegm. 70 millim. ; exp. pronot. angl. 13 millim.
Hab. — Continental India : Neelgiri Hills, northern slopes, 3500 & 5000 feet (Hampson — coll. Dist.).
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura hampsoni (Distant, 1887)
For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.
March 21, 2019
Platypleura mira Distant, 1904
Platypleura mira is a cicada found in Cambodia, Laos, Malasia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Photo by Michel Chantraine:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura mira Distant, 1904
March 11, 2019
Platypleura capitata (Olivier, 1790)
Platypleura capitata is a cicada found in Sri Lanka and India.
Photos by Raghu Ananth, taken near Mysore, India:
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura capitata (Olivier, 1790)
For more information about this cicada, visit Cicadas of India.
January 22, 2019
Platypleura coelebs Stål, 1863
Platypleura coelebs Stål, 1863, is a cicada found in India and China.
Platypleura coelebs was formerly known as Poecilopsaltria coelebs.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Platypleura
Species: Platypleura coelebs Stål, 1863
Species specimen description from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W.L. Distant:
Head ochraceous; front, excluding a central spot, margins of vertex between front and eyes, and a transverse fascia between the eyes black; pronotum pale castaneous, the posterior and lateral margins ochraceous; mesonotum castaneous, with four large obconical black spots on anterior margin, the central two smallest, a central discal elongate black spot and a small black spot in front of each anterior angle of the basal cruciform elevation; abdomen black, the tympanal coverings, and the posterior segmental margins ochraceous. Head beneath, sternum, legs, rostrum and opercula ochraceous; a transverse fascia between the eyes — enclosing a pale spot on face — inner margins of eyes, posterior margin of face and apex of rostrum black: abdomen beneath castaneous, with the posterior segmental margins and the apes ochraceous.
Tegmina with about the basal half creamy opaque shaded with pale fuscous, and more or less outwardly defined by an indistinct curved pale fuscous fascia, remaining area hyaline, costal membrane and venation dark ochraceous, the transverse veins at the bases of the second, third, fourth, fifth and seventh apical areas slightly infuscated; wings stramineous for about two-thirds their area from base, this coloration outwardly margined with fuscous, remaining area pale hyaline, the venation dark ochraceous.
The rostrum extends a little beyond the inner angles of the opercula, which are somewhat well separated.
Long. excl. tegm. 22 to 23 millim. Exp. tegm. 64 to 68 millim. Exp. pronot. angl. 11 millim.
References:
- The illustration, description and location information comes from A Monograph of Oriental Cicadas by W. L. Distant. 1889-1892. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
- Species name information comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
November 17, 2018
Hamza ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Hamza ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758) is found in south-east Asia, specifically Indonesia.
Hamza ciliaris has many synonyms / former names, and Hamza bouruensis, as seen in the image below, is one of them.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Hamza
Species: Hamza ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758)
Hamza genus description by W. L. Distant:
Characters. — Body short, broad; head including eyes about as wide’ as the anterior margin of the mesonotum; ocelli placed nearer to each other than to eyes; pronotum with the lateral margins ampliated, obtusely angulated near middle; anterior femora distinctly tuberculately spined; metasternum slightly elevated, broadly centrally sulcate and sinuately truncated; tympana only about half covered by the dilated and expanded lateral areas of the basal abdominal segment; opercula short, broad, their apices convexly rounded; tegmina about three times as long as broad, the basal cell broad, with at least four angles, ulnar veins widely separated at their bases.
References:
- The illustration and description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1914 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Gaeaninae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
- Species name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
- Tribe information comes from: MARSHALL, DAVID C. et al.A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification.Zootaxa, [S.l.], v. 4424, n. 1, p. 1—64, may 2018. ISSN 1175-5334. Available at: https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4424.1.1
October 22, 2018
Tugelana butleri Distant, 1912
Tugelana butleri Distant, 1912, is found in South Africa.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Tugelana
Species: Tugelana butleri Distant, 1912
Tugelana genus description by W. L. Distant:
Characters. — Head short and broad, including eyes about as broad as base of mesonotum, between eyes three times as broad as long, ocelli farther apart from eyes than from each other, eyes obliquely directed backward; face a little longer than broad, very broadly longitudinally sulcate. lateral areas transversely striate ; pronotum almost as long as mesonotum, the lateral margins roundly ampliate, twice as broad at base as long, the fissures profound, anterior margin truncate, posterior margin very slightly sinuate at middle; abdomen in male about as long as space between the apex of head and base of cruciform elevation; tympana partly exposed, the coverings being a little shorter and considerably narrower inwardly; rostrum reaching the posterior cocÅ“; opercula in male scarcely extending beyond base of abdomen, not meeting inwardly, obliquely transverse, laterally and apically rounded; anterior femora incrassated, with two short but broad teeth at apex; tegmina more than twice as long as broad, opaque, basal cell slightly longer than broad, ulnar areas moderately elongate, apical areas eight, the uppermost long’and narrow; wings a little more than half the length of tegmina, apical areas six. This is one of the few Ethiopian genera belonging to the subfamily Gseaninas, and may be placed near the genus Hamza; like that genus, apart from the tympanal structural characters, it has a superficial resemblance to the genus Platypleura.
References:
- The illustration and description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1914 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Gaeaninae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
- Species name verification comes from Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
October 20, 2018
Cicadas that look like Dracula!
Halloween is almost here, and so I created something special for that time of year: a poster of cicadas with pronotal collars that look like Dracula’s collar — or at least Bela Lugosi’s Dracula. Or maybe Dr. Strange?
Download the large 1.4MB version.
The image features the cicada’s species name and where it can be found. To save space, I went with the continent(s) in when the cicada is found in multiple nations or continents.
The images of cicadas come from the Genera Insectorum 1913, Genera Insectorum 1914, and Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Homoptera. Vol. I (1881-1905). Old but classic and important documents with plenty of awesome cicada illustrations.
Happy Halloween!!
October 17, 2018
Pycna coelestia Distant, 1904
Pycna coelestia Distant, 1904 is found in China.
Scientific classification:
Family: Cicadidae
Subfamily: Cicadinae
Tribe: Platypleurini
Genus: Pycna
Species: Pycna coelestia Distant, 1904
Pynca genus description by W. L. Distant:
Characters. — Head (including eyes) only about two-thirds the width of base of mesonotum, not truncate anteriorly, but obliquely deflected in front of eyes; pronotum transverse, the posterior margin about half the length of its vertex, the lateral margins ampliated, but not angulated, and scarcely extending over the base of tegmina ; mesonotum about as long as pronotum ; anterior femora tuberculously angulated near base and apex, posterior tibiae spinous on apical area; metasternum a little elevated and centrally sulcate; tympana well covered; abdomen short and robust; opercula short, very broad, their apices more or less convexly rounded ; rostrum reaching the posterior coxae; tegmina with the costal membrane much arched at base, dilated, and always as broad or very much broader than the costal area; basal cell very broad; ulnar veins widely separated at their bases.
Not sure of the species, but this cicada belongs to the Pycna genus. Photo by Michel Chantraine:
References:
- The illustration and genus description comes from the journal Genera Insectorum, and a specific article from 1913 by W. L. Distant titled Homoptera. Fam. Cicadidae, Subfam, Cicadinae. Read it on the Biodiversity Heritage Library website.
- Current species name verified using Allen Sanborn’s Catalogue of the Cicadoidea (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha).
